WIREDGOV

Battling on in the face of adversity has taken on a whole new meaning for a team of UK scientists and engineers working on NASA’s next generation James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the successor to Hubble.

MIRI being prepared for testing
(Credit: STFC)

The team have had to cope with treacherous snow storms, power outages and severe thunder storms all to ensure that the UK designed and built Mid Infrared Instrument (MIRI) detector passed its third campaign of testing for the JWST project at the NASA Goddard Space test facility.

MIRI is one of the key instruments currently being built for NASA’s JWST, which, once it is launched in 2018, will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.

When JWST launches in October 2018 it will be the premier space observatory of the next decade, supporting thousands of astronomers worldwide. On-board this amazing telescope will be a suite of four instruments which will be contained within the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM).

MIRI is one of these instruments and was developed in a collaborative effort between scientists and engineers from ten European countries, led by the UK and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), with the support of ESA and NASA. The UK team is made up of a partnership between the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), University of Leicester and Airbus Defence and Space with funding from the UK Space Agency.

Taking the science lead for MIRI is the STFC UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh. Scientists and engineers based there have been overseeing the optical testing part of the campaign out at Goddard, which has included tests using artificial stars to test MIRI’s focus and image quality under cold conditions.

At one point tests were held up by several spectacular thunderstorms, and were postponed due to the significant risk of a power outage occurring. However the results have been incredibly positive with no significant movement since the last test campaign of 2014. These tests were followed by more complex optical tests to provide calibration data for when the instrument starts observations in orbit.

European PI for MIRI Dr Gillian Wright, MBE, who is Director of STFC's UK Astronomy Technology Centre said ‘The whole team have done an amazing job over this test campaign and in some cases in the face of adversity given that some of the testing took place in the middle of a snow blizzard and that meant that no one could leave the test area or get to the site! Now that we have had such positive results we can move forward to the next phase - integration with JWST as launch in 2018 gets closer’.

Jon Sykes, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Space Research Centre, University of Leicester said ‘This is a great testament to the way that the MIRI team, other instrument teams and the ISIM team have worked together through the project in an international collaboration to combine both the instrument hardware and also the engineering analysis models to produce a system that is so well characterised and understood’.

Blizzard conditions at the NASA Goddard Space test facility
(Credit: Alistair Glasse/STFC)

For the first time during the campaign the whole assembly of instruments were vibrated, the purpose of this test is to qualify the Flight Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) structure complete with all instruments for the vibration loads that it will experience during launch. A major engineering effort goes in to the design, analysis and prototyping of the structure so it can withstand these loads. The whole ISIM structure behaved superbly throughout the test; the successful outcome has validated this analysis and the excellent assessments made by the engineers involved.

Andy Stroomer, Head of Earth Observation, Navigation and Science in the UK for Airbus Defence and Space, who have overall project management responsibility from the MIRI European Team said ‘Airbus is proud to be the industrial partner in the MIRI consortium, continuing to support the instrument team and NASA towards a successful JWST mission’

NASA has also successfully completed the integration of 18 hexagonal mirrors to the Optical Telescope Element (OTE). Following the success of this campaign, the next step is to integrate ISIM to the OTE over the summer. The telescope will then be shipped in its entirety to Johnson Space Centre, Texas at the end of the year where further tests on the ISIM/OTE assembly will take place.

• STFC MIRI page
• NASA JWST Home page
• Time-lapse film of the James Webb Space Telescope Mirror Rollover
• NASA article on the cold tests
• Link to the MIRI images on Flickr

Contacts

• Jake Gilmore
  STFC Media Manager
   
• Sarah Smart
  Head of Communications, STFC RAL Space
   
• University of Leicester Press Office

Notes to Editors

MIRI

MIRI is an infrared camera and spectrometer and will operate between wavelengths of 5 to 27 microns, a region which is difficult to observe from the ground. The instrument has several unique advantages; its location in space will remove the blocking and large background noise effects of the atmosphere which limit ground-based telescopes. JWST can be cooled to a very low temperature; this reduces the emission from the telescope and therefore greatly improves its sensitivity. JWST will have a much larger mirror than any other infrared space telescope, giving improved angular resolution.

MIRI has been put through its paces with a rigorous environmental test campaign designed to verify performance and functionality of ISIM, the UK team and teams from the US and Europe travelled out at different times throughout 2015/16 to work on shifts to work together with the ISIM team and the other JWST Science Instrument teams. The tests included vibration, optical, and acoustic followed by functional tests to ensure that the instrument was still working as it should.

STFC RAL Space

STFC RAL Space are responsible for the functional testing of MIRI, these are carried out every time ISIM completes a test cycle to ensure that MIRI is still working correctly. RAL Space are responsible for the overall thermal design of MIRI and provide support to the test team during cold tests.

RAL Space based at STFC's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL), carries out an exciting range of world-class space research and technology development. We have significant involvement in over 200 space missions and are at the forefront of UK Space Research. We undertake world-leading space research and technology development, provide space test and ground-based facilities, design and build instruments, analyse and process data and operate S- and X-band ground-station facilities, as well as lead conceptual studies for future missions. We work with space and ground-based groups around the world. Our 200 staff are dedicated to supporting the programmes of the STFC and the Natural Environment Research Council, as well as undertaking a large number of space projects for UK and overseas agencies, universities and industrial companies.

The University of Leicester

The University of Leicester are leading the overall structural and mechanical engineering work for MIRI, provide support during cold tests, and are involved in the MIRI teams planning for the scientific observations after launch.

The University of Leicester is led by discovery and innovation - an international centre for excellence renowned for research, teaching and broadening access to higher education. The University of Leicester is ranked among the top one per cent of universities in the world by the THE World University Rankings and also among the top 100 leading international universities in the world. It is among the top 25 universities in the Times Higher Education REF Research Power rankings with 75% of research adjudged to be internationally excellent with wide-ranging impacts on society, health, culture, and the environment.

UK Space Agency

The UK Space Agency is at the heart of UK efforts to explore and benefit from space. It is responsible for all strategic decisions on the UK civil space programme and provides a clear, single voice for UK space ambitions.

The Agency is responsible for ensuring that the UK retains and grows a strategic capability in the space-based systems, technologies, science and applications. It leads the UK’s civil space programme in order to win sustainable economic growth, secure new scientific knowledge and provide benefits to all citizens.

The UK Space Agency:

• co-ordinates UK civil space activity
• encourages academic research
• supports the UK space industry
• raises the profile of UK space activities at home and abroad
• increases understanding of space science and its practical benefits
• inspires our next generation of UK scientists and engineers
• licences the launch and operation of UK spacecraft
• promotes co-operation and participation in the European Space programme